Leather-press.



F. H. SHAW.

LEATHER PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-5,1915.

Patented Mar. 21, 1 916.

Witnesses a Attorneys FRED H. SHAW, or DALLAS, rnxas.

LEATHER-PRESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

Application filed August 5, 1915. Serial No. 43,848.

To all whom it may concern:

Be. it known that I, FRED H. SHAW, a citizen of the United States,residing at Dallas, in the county of Dallas and State of Texas, haveinvented a new and useful Leather-Press, of which the following is aspecification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is adapted tobe employed in the making of clutch facings.

The invention aims to provide in a device of this type, novelcooperating elements whereby a strip of leather or like material havingparallel edges may be distorted to form a strip the edges of which,respectively, are concaved and conveXed.

The invention aims to provide novel means for holding down the stripwhile the same is being flexed.

Another object of the invention is to provide novel means for moving theclamp and for holding the clamp in adjusted-positions.

It is within the provinceof the disclosure to improve generally and toenhance the utility of devices of that type to which the presentinvention appertains.

WVith the above and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 shows in top plan, a pressconstructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is asection on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section showing aclutch facing adapted to be formed out of a strip distorted in a pressconstructed in accordance with the present lnvention; Fig. 4 is a plandelineating a strip adapted to be used on the press forming the subjectmatter of this application, the strip being shown as it will appearprior to being acted upon by the press; Fig. 5 is a plan viewdiagrammatic in nature and illustrating a strip cut to form a clutchfacing of the sort shown in Fig. 3.

In the accompanying drawings the numeral 1 indicates a clutch facing,ordinarily fashioned from leather or like material and of frusto-conicalform. Such a facing may be made out of a strip 2, shown in Fig. 5, oneedge 3 of the strip being concaved and the other edge 4 of the stripbeing convened. According to one known process of procedure, the edges 3and 4 of the strip 2 are cut to the desired curvature, in order thatwhen the ends of the strip 2 are brought together, the clutch facing 1may appear approximately as shown in Fig. 3. This cutting operation,obviously, results in an appreciable waste of material, and the presentinvention aims to provide a press which is adapted to work upon a strip5, the longitudinal edges 6 of which are parallel, the strip beingdistorted by moving its ends in the direction of the arrows A of Fig. 4,so that the Strip will assume the form of the strip 2, without entailingthe waste incident to cutting the edges 3 and 4 to the desiredcurvature.

The press forming the subject matter of this application embodies a bed7 of any desired form and carrying an abutment 8. If, as shown in thedrawings, the abutment 8 is a separateelement from the bed 7, theabutment may be held to the bed by screws 9 or other suitable fasteningmeans. The inner edge of the abutment 8 is curved to the desired arc andis inclined, undercut or beveled, as shown at 10. Slidable along the bed7 toward and away from the abutment 8 is a clamp 11, the inner edge ofwhich is curved to conform to the curvature of the inner edge of theabutment 8, the inner edge of the clamp 11 being inclined, undercut orbeveled as shown at 12.

Disposed between the clamp 11 and the abutment 8 is a compression member14, curved to conform to the curvature of the inner edges of theabutment 8 in the clamp 11, the edges of the compression member 14 beingbeveled to conform to the beveled edges 10 and 12 of the abutment 8 andthe clamp 11 respectively. The construction is such that when the clamp11 is moved toward the abutment 8, the compression member 14 will beprevented from moving upwardly and will be forced downwardly into thestrip 5, it being readily seen that when the strip 5 is placed on thebed 7 between the abutment 8 and the clamp 11, the strip, when actedupon by these elements and the compression member 14, will be distortedfrom the form shown in Fig. 4, into the form shown in Fig. 5, withoutcutting or trimming the strip. Preferably, the strip (which ordinarilyis of leather) is worked in a wet condition, and is allowed to dry inthepress;

Means is provided for moving the'clam'p 11 toward and away from theabutment 8, I and with this end in view, the clamp is sup pliedwith ears15 carrying pivot elements 16 upon which are mounted arms 17 ofi'set asshown at 18, so that the rear or outer ends of the arms rest on the bed7, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The arms 17 may be supplied with handles19 of any desired construction, to facilitate the operation of the armsand the clamp 11. u

Mounted on the bed 7 near to its rear end is a rib 20 which may be heldin place by securingelements 22, the rib being provided with sockets 21,in which the rear ends of the arms 17 are loosely and sl-idablyreceived. The sockets 21 carry gripping means of any desired sort,coiiperating with the arms 17, the gripping means in the presentinstance being depicted in the form of hand screws 23. The clamp 11 maybe advanced toward the abutment 8 to effect the; necessary distortion ofthe strip 5, the clamp being pushed forwardly by means of the arms 17and the handles 19. Subsequently,'the hand screws 23 may be tighteneddown on-the' arms, whereuponthe strip 5 will bebound'firmly in acurvilinear pocket defined by aportion of the bed 7 the abutment 8, theclamp 11 and the compression member 14;

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is c 1 1. In adevice for shaping clutch facings, a bed; an abutment fixed to the bed;a bed supported clamp movable toward and away from the aubtment, theinner edges of the clamp and the abutment being curved; and acompression member located between the abutment and the clamp, the inneredges of the abutment and clamp overhanging the edges of the compressionmember. I

2. In a device for shaping clutch :facings,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for a bed {an abutment fi'iied tothe bed; a bed supported clamp movable toward and away from theabutment, the inner edges of the clampand. the abutment being curved;and

a curved compression member located between the abutment and the clamp,the longitudinal edges of the compression member being beveled, and theinner edges of the fixed to thebed; a clamp slidableon the bed towardand away from the abutment; the

inner edges of the abutment and'the clamp belng curved upon a commonradius, and be mg undercut; a compresslon member curved to conformto thecurvature of the inner edges of the abutment and the clamp, the edges ofthecompressio-n member being beveled to cooperate with the undercutedges of the clamp and the abutment whereby when the clamp is advancedtoward the abutment,

the compression member will be moved in a direction substantially atright angles to the direction of advance of the clamp j arms pivotallyassembled with the clamp; and slidarms; and screws threadedinto thesockets; the screws being adapted to engage the arms. p v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as ably received in the sockets;handles on the my own, I have hereto afiixed my signature V in thepresence of two witnesses. H V

H FRED H. SHAWV. YVitnesses: 4

W; PADGITT. W; G. PADGI'IT.

jive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington;I); G."

